Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke is a late-Victorian opposites-attract historical romance and the first book in the Scandal at the Savoy series (4.5/5 stars)

Bookshop Cinderella by Laura Lee Guhrke is a late-Victorian opposites-attract historical romance and the first book in the Scandal at the Savoy series.

Evie owns and runs a bookshop in London that specializes in rare tomes. Max, a Duke, enters a wager about turning Evie into the diamond of the season. He brings her in on the bet, and offers her two months of vacation from the safety and comfort of her shop. Then disaster strikes her shop and she could do with a bit of a break from her usual reality.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s kind of like She’s All That but Evie knows about the bet pretty early. Evie is a very strong feminist and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I really loved her, and saw a lot of myself in her. I’m always here for a bookish heroine!

This book has a bit of steam but it’s not extensive. Their chemistry is off the charts, though! The banter between Evie and Max is pretty great.

The end felt a bit abrupt to me and I would have loved to see an epilogue. Thankfully, this is the first book in the series and hopefully we’ll get to see more of them further into the series!

This was my first read by the author, but I enjoyed it so much I’m absolutely going to check out her back catalogue too, which is pretty extensive. The publisher’s blurb notes that this is good for fans of Julia Quinn, and I agree with that wholeheartedly.

Tropes in this book include: opposites attract, wager, multi-POV, rags-to-riches, he falls first, bookish heroine

CW: bullying, brief mention of possible su*cide (happens prior to book)

I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own. 

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